Todd Papy

When I first heard about a fourth God of War game, my first reaction was “why?” The trilogy along with its two PlayStation Portable titles seemed to cover most of the important events in Kratos’ life. What other stories were left to tell?

That was one of the first questions I asked God of War: Ascension director Todd Papy. The game developer has been with the series close to its inception. “I came in 2003. God of War had been under development. I came in as the senior designer and helped Dave” — he’s referring to creator David Jaffe — “tune the game.” Papy has worked his way up the ranks since then, and now helms this prequel.

It follows Kratos as he frees himself from the Furies. This is before the original God of War, according to the game director. To put it into perspective, the original game took place 10 years after the defining moment in Kratos’ life — the slaying of his wife and child. Chains of Olympus took place five to six years after that event. God of War: Ascension occurs a year after Kratos killed his family and he’s imprisoned for it.